Do You Nanowrimo?

Do you Nanowrimo? ©  copyright 2012  by Sara Jacobelli

November is NaNoWriMo month. Do you NaNoWriMo? Yeah, sounds kinky, but stands for National Novel Writing Month. Produce a 50,000 word novel in one month. Pretty ambitious, don’t you think?

I  thought of trying this, since I am attempting to write a novel. Thought it might give me a push. But in looking at their website, I can see that NaNoWriMo is not for me. I really don’t want to share any portions of my novel until I have a decent first draft completed. It’s too much like having someone looking over my shoulder while I’m writing. Call me superstitious, but hey, who’s more superstitious than writers, gamblers and fishermen/fisherwomen?

Also, I didn’t see any way I could write 50,000 words in a month, unless I became a meth addict. (Since I can’t stand cranksters,that ain’t gonna happen).  Plus, I’m not crazy about the emphasis on quantity here, as opposed to quality.

That said, I still think that the project could push some people to produce a basic outline for a novel, as long as he or she realizes that after one month, the work is just beginning.

As for me:  I started my novel about a week before NaNoWriMo, and. . .  I am still on the first chapter.

 

NaNoWriMo web site:  http://www.nanowrimo.org/

 

Salon magazine’s take on NaNoWriMo:  http://www.salon.com/2010/11/02/nanowrimo/

(I learned from the Salon article that Sara Gruen, who wrote “Water for Elephants,” participated in NaNoWriMo).

 

Slate magazine’s take on NaNoWriMo:  http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2011/11/23/nanowrimo_how_to_write_50_000_words_in_one_month.html

 

Fake NaNoWriMo Tips: https://twitter.com/FakeNNWMTips

 

LA Times article with the best NaNoWriMo Advice:

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/01/entertainment/la-et-national-novel-writing-month-advice-20121101

 

Photo Credit: “The keyboard of the Malling-Hansen writing ball, invented in 1865 by Rasmus Malling-Hansen,” by Wikipedia, Public Domain Photo.

Hello world!

New Orleans: Monday lunch special at the Camellia Grill: Red beans & rice with hamburger patty. Also a mocha freeze. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some of you know me as Sara Jacobelli, some as Saratoga and some just as Toga.

This is my first post of my new blog. The name is “Capitare a fagiolo.” In Italian, this expression means, “to arrive, happen, just at the right time.” It actually translates to, “It happens at the bean” which reflects on the Italian people’s dependence on the bean as a staple.  Similar to New Orleans and red beans and rice. (definition courtesy of “Cassell’s Colloquial Italian.” Collier books, 1980).

In this blog, I will share with you links to some of my published stories, provided I can figure out how to do that. I will also post some original writing here. I welcome contributions of short fiction, preferably “flash fiction” of 500 words or less, and short nonfiction pieces, as well as poetry. Hopefully, I will figure out how to add photos and other graphics. At this point I’m just grateful to get the blog up and running.

What will the blog be about? Well, I used to edit the zine The Dagger, and one reviewer called it, “a directionless zine with a wide variety of poignant essays,” so I’m not sure I can beat that. I have a terrible sense of direction anyway. Expect stuff about New Orleans and whatever else  comes to mind.

Photo Credit: “Red Beans and Rice at the Camelia Grill,” Wikipedia.

© copyright  Sara Jacobelli  2012  https://capitareafagiolo.wordpress.com